'VODAFONE CONNECT' BROADBAND AND HOME PHONE SERVICES NOW AVAILABLE TO VODAFONE UK CUSTOMERS

Vodafone Connect delivers high speed broadband and home phone services. Roll out to Vodafone UK customer starts today. Competitive packages with broadband speeds up to 76Mbps available.

Vodafone Connect delivers high speed broadband and home phone services
Roll out to Vodafone UK customers starts today
Competitive packages, with broadband speeds up to 76Mbps available
Innovative Vodafone Connect router and mobile app will provide seamless control in the home
Easy Switching service to provide customers with hassle-free broadband set-up

Vodafone UK today starts its journey of becoming one of the UK’s leading providers of consumer communications and entertainment services. The company is investing significantly in the programme, which will create more than 400 new jobs in the South East of England and Glasgow. With the launch of Vodafone Connect, which will provide broadband and home phone services to customers across the UK later in the summer, Vodafone will ensure its customers are always connected, both at home and on the go.

Available at speeds up to 76 Mbps, Vodafone’s nationwide, fibre optic, business-grade network already reaches exchanges which pass nearly 20 million premises across the UK: with that figure increasing to around 22 million later in the summer. Combined with the plug-and-play Vodafone Connect router, the service delivers speed, reliability, unlimited data and cutting-edge features which let customers share, stream and shop to their hearts’ content.

The innovative Vodafone Connect companion mobile app, coupled with the router, offers a range of features which will give customers greater control over the devices in the home: ‘Boost’ allows customers to supercharge any device connected to their home network, giving that device priority over others; ‘Beam’, which uses Beamforming technology, sends a stronger Wi-Fi signal to compatible devices wherever they are in the home; ‘Family Time’ allows customers to easily manage and set time limits, giving them control over when Wi-Fi is available and when it’s not; and ‘Guest Wi-Fi’ allows controlled Wi-Fi access to household guests in one click.

Whether customers choose Ultrafast Fibre Broadband (up to 76 Mbps), Superfast Fibre Broadband (up to 38 Mbps) or Broadband ADSL (up to 17 Mbps), Vodafone will celebrate the launch of Vodafone Connect and thank its customers for their loyalty by giving them £5 off the standard broadband price every month and for the first 12 months it will be further discounted to half price – making it one of the best value broadband and home phone packages in the UK. Vodafone Red (pay monthly mobile) customers will also get inclusive calls anytime to landlines, plus 300 free minutes to mobile numbers. And every customer gets inclusive evening and weekend calls, plus discounted Sure Signal units to boost mobile coverage indoors if necessary

Vodafone Connect will initially be offered to existing Vodafone UK customers in Manchester, Berkshire and parts of Hampshire and Surrey followed by Essex, Hertfordshire and Yorkshire in the next few weeks. We will be rolling out to the rest of Vodafone’s UK customer base later in the summer at which point customers will be able to buy the service over the phone or at any one of our more than 500 stores across the country. We expect to launch broadband to new customers later in the year, but registration is already open here

We’ll also take the hassle out of switching broadband provider with our Easy Switching service. Once a customer decides to order Vodafone Connect, and has informed their provider where required, our switching experts will coordinate everything: from transferring the service from the old provider; to setting up the connection with us and ensuring everything is working as it should be.

This launch builds on the success of Vodafone’s fixed broadband services across 12 countries in Europe, where we are one of the largest providers with more than 11 million subscribers and our experience as the leader in unified communications to the UK business sector.

Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO of Vodafone UK said: “This is a really exciting move for Vodafone in the UK as we move our business into a new phase. We’re looking forward to bringing our consumer customers the benefits of our experience in providing fixed and mobile services, both here in the UK and elsewhere around the world. Our significant investment is creating hundreds of new jobs over the next couple of years. We are looking forward to the year ahead, including our move into offering TV services, as one which will prove to be a step-change in our customers’ lives. ”

Cindy Rose, Consumer Director at Vodafone UK said: “We wanted to start our journey into fibre optic broadband and home phone with an exclusive offer available only to existing Vodafone customers as our way of saying thank you for their loyalty. We know our customers depend on us to stay connected, and now we can satisfy their needs both at home and on the go. As the only operator in the UK which owns both a fixed and mobile network, we’re in a great position to create innovative products and services that give our existing customers reasons to stay with us and new customers reasons to switch.”

Vodafone’s market leading Vodafone Connect router (worth £130) will be provided free to customers. High-spec, it utilises the latest Wi-Fi technology, allowing priority to be given to a chosen device – supercharging Wi-Fi for seamless video streaming and gaming.

Vodafone will add broadband and home phone services to their mobile package, presenting one bill to customers covering all services – home phone, mobile and broadband.

Key features of the Vodafone Connect router and Vodafone Connect companion mobile app

Vodafone Connect companion App manages the router by mobile app – allowing customers to change the Wi-Fi password, control features like ‘Boost’ and ‘Beam’ as well as controlling who’s connected to the network and for how long, through features like ‘Guest Wi-Fi’ and ‘Family Time’. The Vodafone Connect companion app is available for iOS and Android. Feature specifics, when coupled with the router, include:

‘Boost’ can supercharge your connected devices – Boost lets customers prioritise Wi-Fi speeds to a chosen device for up to 2 hours, giving that device priority over others within the home – perfect for quickly downloading a video to a smartphone or tablet before setting off
‘Beam’ focuses the Wi-Fi signal right where it’s needed most – Beam, which uses Beamforming technology, sends a stronger Wi-Fi signal to compatible devices wherever they are in the home, even in those hard to reach corners of the house.
Stay in control with ’Family Time’ – Family Time allows customers to easily manage and set time limits, giving them control over when Wi-Fi is available and when it’s not.
‘Guest Wi-Fi ’ allows controlled Wi-Fi access to household guests in one click.

Full specs of the Vodafone Connect router and Vodafone Connect companion mobile app are listed in the Notes to Editors below.

Vodafone Connect Companion App specification sheet

The Vodafone Connect companion app gives you complete control of your Vodafone home broadband service. The application helps you easily control security, configure settings and set up features exclusive to the Vodafone Connect home broadband router

Using the Vodafone Connect companion app you can:

Easily create a separate network for visiting guests – ‘Guest Wi-Fi’
Set time limits for Wi-Fi availability (weekdays, weekends or custom hours) –‘Family Time’
Prioritise traffic to a device on your wireless network – ‘Boost’
See live which devices are connected to your router (Wireless, Ethernet, USB)
Configure settings to make sure your network is secure

List of features:

Edit SSID (Wi-Fi name) for main Wi-Fi or Guest
Change Wi-Fi Password
View number of devices on your wireless network
Schedule Wi-Fi on/off time
Select Wi-Fi Frequency and Band
Set up a guest network
Set up a timer for guest access
Simple connect through WPS
See a history of devices that were connected to your network
Remove/Bar a device from returning to your wireless network
Re-enable a device on your network
View Frequently asked questions in Help & Support
Adjust router LED light status
Enable notification in when a new device joins your network (Android only, coming soon to iOS)

Vodafone Connect Router description

The Vodafone Connect Router is a powerful router for both standard and advanced users with plenty of innovative features. The Vodafone Connect Router caters for ADSL2+/VDSL2 and Fibre connections.

Our router features dual band concurrent Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 802.11ac with ‘Beam’ – beamforming technology to ensure the best possible signal optimisation in the home.

Technical specification:

Chipset : Broadcom 63168/6303
4 x Gigabit Ethernet (RJ45)
1 x Gigabit Ethernet WAN (RJ45)
1 x ADSL2+ / VDSL2 (RJ11)
WiFi 11ac: 5GHz 3×3 / 11n: 2,4GHz 2×2 dual band concurrent with MIMO and Beamforming
2 x USB 2.0
DDR3 128MB + 256MB NAND FLASH
ADSL2+ / VDSL2 (incl. vectoring)
DLNA Certified
Fibre compatible WAN port
Unique status LEDs activated by proximity sensor
Ambient bottom glow shows device status

About Vodafone UK

Vodafone is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 55 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 31 March 2015, Vodafone had 446 million mobile customers and 12 million fixed broadband customers. Vodafone UK is headquartered in Newbury, has nearly 13,000 employees and more than 18 million customers.

Vodafone UK partners with businesses of all sizes – from start-ups and small businesses to the largest corporates and the public sector. The company has worked with UK businesses for over 30 years, starting out as a mobile provider and becoming one of the UK’s leading unified communications partners. It provides a range of voice and data services, secure communications infrastructure, fixed and call centre capability, unified communications and was the first mobile phone operator to offer a truly converged service for fixed and mobile.

Vodafone is currently spending around £1 billion on its network and services across the UK following a similar amount spent last year. This includes £200 million on its network in London, the introduction of its 4G service to more than 540 cities and towns, as well as thousands of smaller communities whilst also making network improvements across its UK 3G network. Meanwhile, the Vodafone Rural Open Sure Signal programme is also aiming to bring 3G coverage for the first time to 100 remote communities across the UK.